Marco Bezzecchi
Alex Marquez thwarted the possibility of Marc Marquez winning his ninth championship in Grand Prix motorcycle racing at Misano after taking victory ahead of his brother at the Catalan Grand Prix last weekend.
The championship leader needed to outscore his brother in second place by 47 points by the end of the San Marino Grand Prix to secure the championship at Misano.
However, Marc’s win in the Sprint and runners-up classification in the Grand Prix meant that the Ducati factory rider extended his championship lead by just seven points, meaning his next earliest opportunity would be at Motegi, after Misano.
Marc will need to outscore Alex by 29 points over the next three races, the San Marino Sprint, San Marino GP and Japanese Sprint, to be crowned as champion at the currently earliest opportunity.
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Marc Marquez doesn’t want the events of the 2015 MotoGP season brought up when he wins the 2025 title
Securing the title at Motegi would be fitting, as it is a track where he has clinched three of his six premier class titles in the past.
However, claiming it in Misano would have been equally fitting as he would equal Valentino Rossi’s tally of seven MotoGP titles at the home race of his fierce rival.
Speaking on an episode of Benzine, journalist Cosimo Curatola explained why a cryptic answer from Marquez makes it ‘clear’ why he would have preferred not to win his seventh championship at the home of Rossi.
“At the start of the weekend, a Spanish journalist asked him, ‘Would you prefer to win at Valentino’s home or at the home of Honda?'” Curatola started.
“He replied, ‘Good question, but I’ll tell you nothing.’ It’s clear that winning the title at Misano would have brought up the whole 2015 talk all over again.
“And it’s better for Marc not to do that, better for Ducati, and honestly, better for everyone. So instead, people can focus on this extraordinary comeback, because he truly is the protagonist of one of the greatest comebacks in the history of sport.”
Marquez went through ‘hell’ to re-emerge as a championship contender following an injury-ridden end to his highly successful tenure at the Honda factory team.
Sidelined for the majority of the 2020 and 2022 seasons, Marquez took a pay cut when he swapped Honda for Ducati in 2024 and hasn’t looked back since.
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Marc Marquez previously hoped for the title to be decided in Japan or Indonesia
After months of dodging questions about the promising likelihood that he would be crowned as champion again in the premier class, Marquez finally admitted that he was thinking about the title after his win at Balaton Park in August.
The Ant of Cervera was sceptical about winning the title in Misano due to reasons other than it being Rossi’s stomping grounds, telling journalists via Autosport, “I hope my first opportunity comes in Indonesia or Japan.
“If it comes in Misano, it means my brother had a disastrous weekend in Barcelona – and I want the best for him.”
Fortunately for Marc, Alex was superb in Barcelona as he dominated in qualifying and should have had a clean sweep of both races if not for an unforced mistake in Saturday’s Sprint race.
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